Easter was April 5th and so my kids' Spring Break began Friday, March 27th right after school got out. Zach and Riley got to go on an over-night camp out for scouts. I think it may have rained. I can't remember. But Zach almost didn't get to go because of missing assignments. The punk. But by the skin of his teeth, he got them done and turned in. I'm shaking my head right now. I know you can't see me, but I am.
We didn't do much for Spring Break. Except stay home and play video games. But on the Friday before Easter, Riley, Kaleb, and I packed a picnic lunch and went to visit Michael and Lili's new baby boy. We thought it would be fun to go to a park and fly kites. Kurtis had told Zach he couldn't go, but I can't remember why. Probably something to do with his grades, but that isn't making sense because I'm pretty sure he went on that camping trip. It's hard to say though. They go on so many, they are starting to run together. And for some reason, I am still always surprised when I get an email telling me they are having another one. I mean, they just went on one. They have to go on another one? I know the one after that, he didn't get to go on because of grades though. The punk.
Any way, I took a bunch of pictures with my phone at the park. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm yet either, and unfortunately, I wasn't really very windy. Lili and Kaleb tried to fly their kites any way.
It was also on this day, that I realized my children don't know who Mary Poppins is. I found a copy of the movie at Target, but we have yet to watch it. Soon. My children must see this classic soon.
At the dollar store where we bought our kites, I also found this awesome bubble gun. Kaleb loved it.
I think Gus liked it, too. I sure hope so because I gave it to him at the end of the day.:)
Look at that handsome mug!
Riley liked the bubble gun, too.
Oh, baby. Melt my heart. :)
Riley and Kaleb have a hard time taking turns sometimes.
Setting up their kite.
Michael, trying to teach Kaleb to fly his kite. Which promptly broke.
Riley didn't want to fly his kite and kicked Gus' ball instead.
Lili got her kite to fly a little bit.
But only for a little bit.
And then again! It was fun.
Gus loved it.
I love this picture. :)
And I just got to hold this little guy for a very long time. I loved it.
All too soon it was Gus' nap time and we had to go.
We have not had a dishwasher for awhile. The water where we live is very, very hard. Very hard. After we moved into our home, the dishwasher probably lasted about two years? I don't remember. It wasn't new (as far as I know), but it just went out. I can't remember exactly why. But my parents bought us a new one after it died. It was a Christmas/birthday present for the whole entire family. I don't think it lasted a whole year.
Kurtis was always on the fence about whether or not we should get a water softener. I wanted one. He didn't really see why we needed one. Until then. So we decided we were not going to get a new dishwasher until we got a water softener. Well, that's great. But years went by and we didn't get a water softener, so we didn't have a dishwasher. Well. We had three. Their names are Zachary, Riley, and Kaleb. He he he.
The end of September last year, our water heater finally kicked the bucket. It was original to our home which was built in 1992, so yeah. It was inevitable. But that shower I took that morning was not fun when the hot water ran out.
I called a plumber and they came out. I almost bought the tank-less water heater, but I felt I shouldn't for some reason. It was really expensive. The next day, the furnace needed replacing (also the original), so I think I made the right choice. Any way, when we put in the water heater, I had them put in a water softener, too. I had been waiting for so long for this!
As tax return time came closer, I asked the kids if they would rather get a dishwasher or go to Disneyland. Well, in all those years of not having a dishwasher, our children got a lot of practice, and so they said, "A dishwasher!" Honestly, I agreed.
February came and it was a busy month.
February brings Valentine's day celebrations at the elementary school. First, Kaleb and I had to make his Valentine's box. When I was a kid, they always just made them in class, but not any more. We took a shoe box, wrapped it in wrapping paper, then wrapped the lid, too. Then Kaleb decided he wanted a Pokemon character on it and we printed it off, colored it, and glued it to the top. Then I cut the mouth out. It turned out super cute!
I told Kaleb's teacher that I could help with their class party. I was asked to do a craft. So I found one that I thought would be easy for the kids to put together. I asked Kaleb if he felt it was good and if his classmates would like it. He said it was awesome and that they would love it. So on Friday, February 13th, I found out Kaleb was wrong. The class divided into stations and were given 8 minutes at each station. I wasn't told that's all they would be given, and some of the kids did not find my project easy. So a lot of the time, when the 8 minutes was up, my kids were not ready to move on. :(
That is a picture of the project. They are just paper sail boats, a craft stick with paper sails, and I added a little fun sized M&Ms to go inside. Easy, right? Especially when someone is showing you step by step what to do, right? Well, not so much. And I'm not a teacher for a reason. It would have been nice to know about the time limit. Then I could have timed how long they took to make.
So, after getting home from that exhausting party, I came home and made some Red Velvet Chocolate Chip cookies for the boys and proceeded to eat a bunch of them, too. They were delicious.
For Valentine's day, Kurtis and I wanted to go out to eat and see a movie. I decided that I didn't really want to go out, but we ended up going to Costa Vida and watching Jupiter Ascending anyway. After eating, I felt a little bit better, so it was okay that we went out.
Kurtis got me a bunch of cds and the first two seasons of Arrow (yes, I love that show!). He went a little overboard on the cds. But he told me they had been on my Amazon wish list for awhile and he didn't know which one to get, so he got them all. That made me laugh.
I got him the Underworld series. The trilogy set and the fourth one. He likes them.
Emily was due on February 14th, so I texted the morning of her due date to tease her about not having her baby yet. Joel texted me back that she was in labor, had been all night, and had just been admitted to the hospital. I spent the day worried about her, but fifty-six hours of labor later (not exaggerating), on February 15th, she welcomed my newest NEPHEW! into the world. Another boy! The ratio of boys to girls for my parents' grand kids was officially 8 to 1.
I wanted so badly to go meet him, but alas. When you are sick, you must stay away.
So I didn't get to meet my new baby for awhile. But Ben sent me a picture, so I guess it's okay.
Oh, my heart! It really started to feel like the Universe did not want us to meet.
Six days later, on February 21st, my brother texted me to let me know Lili was in the hospital. She was laboring to deliver their second baby. Lili's niece had been with Gus during the birth, so I asked if he would like me to come watch Gus for a bit so he could be with the new baby and Lili. Gus wasn't allowed to visit his new sibling in the hospital. As I was on my way down, he let me know Ben and Jayden were also on their way down. When we got there, we helped Michael give Gus lunch and then took him to a museum on the college campus near their home. He loves that place.
I couldn't stay long because I had plans, and Michael told me to come meet the baby before I had to go. So I only stayed at the museum long enough to snap a few photos of the little whirlwind loving the museum.
He loves looking at all the animals.
Especially the elephant.
He's fast and zipped around that place like it was his personal playground.
Maybe it is.
This is awesome. It's made of butterflies.
This one is awesome, too. The designs on the back of the beetle are made of beetles.
So cool! I have to take my boys there this summer.
I know I took a few pictures at the hospital, but they are missing, so here is one taken soon after my new nephew was born. My heart! He's adorable! I love him so much!
Now the ratio of boys to girls is 9 to 1. I'm hoping one day, we get another girl that I can spoil with cute pink clothes and My Little Pony dolls, though.
Then I got called to jury duty. On February 26th, I got up early and went to the court house.
I watched a video about being a juror and then waited to see if they would actually call me to the jury. They didn't.
So I texted Emily and asked if I could come visit my nephew. She said I could. I was so excited! Finally!
He has big feet and was very tall when he was born.
He's such a serious little sweetheart.
I loved him from the minute I met him. I didn't want to go home.
I'm so happy for my sisters! What a month of magical moments.
